New Zealand

A deal was struck last year between Canberra and the administration of former president Barack Obama to take up to 1250 of the refugees, but so far only 54 from Manus and Nauru have been accepted.

On Sunday, the Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said he would wait for the deal to play out before considering New Zealand's offer to resettle up to 150 of the refugees.

It was extended by his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern when the pair met in Sydney on Sunday.

Having drawn last year's Four Nations clash with the Bravehearts, David Kidwell's troops hit the ground running in Christchurch and were near-untouchable.

They ran in 14 tries to one, with Peta Hiku and Te Maire Martin scoring hat-tricks.

The Kiwis threw caution-to-the-wind for much of their opening game at the Rugby League World Cup, resulting in them making 17 errors and completing just 62 per cent of their 42 uses with the ball.

Lofty centre Adams had a second straight double-double, notching 17 points and 11 rebounds, as the Thunder took their season record to 2-2 with the victory at Chesapeake Arena on Thursday (NZ time).

The 24-year-old made eight of his 13 shots and added two blocks and two steals in a typically busy all-round effort.

It was a welcome result for Oklahoma City, who started their 2017-18 campaign with a win against the New York Knicks but had since gone down to both the Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves.

New Zealand First Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters said he had spoken to the leaders of the National Party and the Labour Party today and, amongst other matters, advised them of that.

What you need to know

It's been 26 days since the election.

NZ is into the 10th day of negotiations.

On Tuesday night Mr Peters secretly met one-on-one with both Bill English and Jacinda Ardern.

The final round of negotiations wrapped up last night, ending five days of back-to-back meetings with National and Labour.

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said he would announce which party his will form a government with by the end of next week.

But there is still no indication exactly when that will be. Mr Peters is still working on bringing together his board, which has to sign off any decision, meaning an announcement will be at the weekend at the earliest.

Mr Peters said he was very pleased to have all the policy discussion finished.

The thunderstorms were working their way up the coast, beginning in Fiordland at 1am.

Newshub reports at one point lightning bolts were flashing 45 times per minute.

The West Coast is also being battered with heavy rainfall, with up to 160mm over a 36-hour period in Westland and 120mm in the Canterbury and Otago headwaters, according to MetService.

MetService has issued a severe wind warning for Otago and Canterbury as well as Wellington and the Wairarapa.

It said storms would continue to barrage the entire West Coast for the rest of the day.

New Zealand will sign the Treaty on the first day it is open for signature, September 20.

“Our signing at this first opportunity is consistent with New Zealand’s long-standing commitment to international nuclear disarmament efforts”, Brownlee said.

“While no state currently in possession of nuclear weapons will be signing along with us, this Treaty nevertheless represents an important step towards a nuclear-free world.

Auckland University social researcher Natalie Thorborn has released the disturbing findings into the plight of underage sex workers saying it is much more common than people think.

NZ Herald reports girls just 12 years old were often groomed by boyfriends who eventually forced them into a situation where they had no option but to sell their bodies.

In some instances even parents were selling their own children for sex.

A 9-year-old girl was tied to her bed by her mother and forced to have sex with men.

Gerry Brownlee made this comment after attending the Pacific Islands Forum leaders summit in Apia, where he was standing in for New Zealand's prime minister Bill English.

He told RNZ that the Pacific Islands' leadership is well focused on interacting with other countries to improve living standards for their own people.